Pernod Ricard commits to gender balanced management teams by 2030

'Responsible and respectful': a raft of commitments made by drinks giant Pernod Ricard aim to tackle a broad range of pressing contemporary issues such as equality and the environment

Drinks giant Pernod Ricard has an unveiled eight-point sustainability and responsibility plan to tackle pressing issues such as the environment, gender equality and alcohol abuse.

Detailing its 2030 Sustainability and Responsibility roadmap Good Times from a Good Place​ at its Martell Cognac distillery in France, the company behind Absolut vodka, Jameson Irish whiskey and Martell cognac set out eight ambitious resolutions in keeping with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to be delivered by the year 2030.

The beverage behemoth’s pledges rest on four central pillars – nurturing terroir, valuing people, circular making and responsible hosting – and seek to address issues such as Pernod Ricard’s contribution to environmental issues such as climate change, it’s adherence to human rights and encouragement of responsible drinking.

In the past eight years, 95% of Pernod Ricard’s vineyards met environmental standards while Pernod Ricard has also reduced its water consumption per litre of alcohol by 20% and its carbon emissions by 30% per unit of production.

‘Good Times from a Good Place’ by Pernod Ricard

1 - Nurturing Terroir

Biodiversity

Regenerative agriculture

2 - Valuing People

Equality and future leadership

Shared knowledge and learning

3 - Circular making

Packaging and waste

Water balance and carbon-footprint

4 - Responsible Hosting

Alcohol misuse

Responsible Party

Committing to gender equality

Resting on its ‘valuing people’ pillar and described as “increasing diversity and fairness for all its people and empowering people across its supply chain”, Pernod Ricard promised equal pay across the business by 2022 and gender-balanced top management teams by 2030.

Moreover, it was revealed that by 2030, every company employee will have received future-fit training at least every three years to develop new skills.

By 2030, 10,000 @Pernod_Ricard bartenders will have been trained in anti-waste, sustainable hosting

In addition, Pernod Ricard will, by 2030, train 10,000 bartenders to eliminate single-use plastics from their bar and curb the amount of waste they produce with the help of Trash Tiki – a platform to help tackle waste in the hospitality sector – a group Pernod Ricard has worked with since 2017.

Furthering its commitment to minimising waste, Pernod Ricard also pledged it would ban all promotional items and product packaging that weren’t bio-based, or couldn’t be recycled, composted or reused by 2025 while promising to increase recycling rates in its top 10 largest markets with low recycling levels by 2030.

The drinks giant also committed to crack down on carbon emissions by committing to reduce the overall intensity of its carbon footprint by 50% by 2030, while pledging to replenish 100% of water consumption from production sites in high-risk watersheds such as India and Australia.

Tackling alcohol misuse

Unveiling it’s ‘responsible hosting’ pledge to tackle alcohol misuse, Pernod Ricard stated: “Wine and Spirits bring people together and serve a valuable role in society. Pernod Ricard is committed to fighting alcohol misuse in society by taking action on harmful drinking and engaging with its stakeholders for real change.”

It pledged to act upon this by promising that each of its affiliates, in 86 different counties, would introduce at least one programme to fight alcohol misuse.

In addition, through its ‘responsible party’ programme created a decade ago in partnership with the Erasmus Student Network Pernod Ricard aims to reach at least 1m young adults globally.

Backing biodiversity

As part of its commitment to nurturing terroirs - the set of environmental factors that affect a crop's characteristics - Pernod Ricard promised that each of its global affiliates would introduce a strategic conservation and biodiversity project by 2030.

Moreover, by 2025, Pernod Ricard will develop regenerative agriculture projects in vineyards in Argentina, California, Cognac, Champagne, Spain, Australia, New Zealand and China to mimic natural processes and improve the quality of top soil, watersheds and ecosystems. Pernod Ricard will then partner with more than 5,000 farmers to share these techniques further.

Commenting on the roadmap’s reveal, Vanessa Wright, Pernod Ricard’s VP sustainability and responsibility, explained: “We know that our customers have now come to expect our brands to be responsible and respectful of the environment – values that have been at the very heart of our business since its inception.

“These 2030 commitments provide us with a focused framework across our business in helping to address some of the biggest sustainability issues, so consumers can enjoy our products in a convivial and sustainable way.”